


language barriers: the sequel

by cngkyns



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Foreign Language, High School, Japanese Culture, M/M, Self-Indulgent, aka hyungkyun being 2 awkward idiots around each other, maybe the other members might appear but idk yet, since it takes place in japan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 19:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15914664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cngkyns/pseuds/cngkyns
Summary: Changkyun tries to get his feelings through to the tall, sleepy boy, but it doesn't go well as planned.alternatively, in which Hyungwon gets confessed to and he has no idea what to do.(rewrite of 'language barriers' from 2016, ft. the overdue sequel i promised 2 years ago)





	1. the start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i said what i said. an overdue sequel for a [work](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9379115) from 2 years ago. wow am i good at keeping promises omgdf   
>  anyway hello again it's ya girl w another fluffy changkyun fic! here are some important notes:
> 
>   * since this is a japan student exchange au, changkyun doesn't go by changkyun, he goes by 'chankyun' which is just how i imagine his japanese name would be. similarly, hyungwon goes by 'hyunwon' for the same reason.
>   * when changkyun is thinking of hyungwon, he refers to him as 'hyunwon', and hyungwon refers to changkyun as 'chankyun.' this is bc, for now, they don't know they're both korean and can use their korean names, which is why they refer to each other in their japanese names! if it makes sense.
> 

> 
>   
>  my writing style is different (and hopefully better) than before, so i hope you'll enjoy! for those who waited for a sequel and never got one, i am So Sorry but, at last, here it is!

 

 

 

Standing in front of The Hyungwon under the shade of an apple tree like this, where the excited rhythm of the wind threatens apples to drop on their heads any time and the green, young leaves shiver in the breeze, where Hyungwon has himself wrapped in two layers of school sweaters and Changkyun covers his arms with his hands, the latter has a Very Sudden Ephiphany that this probably wasn't the best course of action. That is, to confess to a crush he'd developed within his first three months of Japanese high school exchange despite his lack of confidence in the local tongue. Changkyun, in an attempt to steady his nerves and silence the fluttery butterflies in his stomach, presses his lips together, mouthing foreign syllables off his tongue, testing the way it sounds like in his head so he won't mess it up. If he messes this up, he's really going to be the biggest fool.

How does he expect himself to do this when he can't even order food without stuttering?

To be fair, ordering food had always been nerve-wracking for him, even in his native tongue.  Changkyun has learnt Japanese for the past three years. He's aced his JLPT N3 test with flying colours. He's befriended a number of classmates who were impressed by his conversational fluency and his near-perfect pronounciation of the local tongue. The problem doesn't lie in his Japanese or his lack of confidence in speaking, reading or writing it. The problem lies-- or rather, is standing-- in front of himself. 

Meanwhile, Hyungwon stands completely frozen in front of the shorter boy, having no idea what he was going to hear from him. Though the spring winds were blowing extra hard today and he's almost blown off his legs, he tries to be still, his long arms hanging limp by his side and his black hair tousled from classroom naps. Even if it was the wind's fault, it'd be rude of him to just-- disappear without listening to what the shorter boy has to say first. 

In the back of his head, Hyungwon hopes he won't be told off for another attitude problem, like how he always sleeps in class or forgets his cleaning duties from time to time. He's well-liked among his classmates, but the annoying student council members take delight in ratting him out for the smallest issues. It's not his fault that he has the memory of a goldfish or that he's sleepy all the time. It runs in the family. 

After what seems to be an endless silence, Changkyun finally clears his throat and brings it to an end, lifting his gaze from the cobbled entrance path to look at Hyungwon in the eyes. His heart skips a beat-- _whoa, Hyunwon is this pretty up close, huh_ , he thinks-- and he almost loses the words he's prepared before. 

"Um...Hyun...Hyunwon-san," he starts, voice so soft and timid as the wind carries it away. 

The taller boy blinks, bringing himself back from his thoughts to reality. "Uh. Yes?" His voice comes out as awkward and raspy, since he didn't drink water for a few hours and his throat was now dry. Blame those comfortable classroom naps. 

"What I want to tell you is," Changkyun continues. An abrupt rush of nerves start climbing up from the ground to his knees to his shoulders to the tips of his ears. "Ah." Averting his gaze, he blinks and swallows his words. There goes his bravery.

"What you want to tell me is?" 

As Hyungwon waits for the shorter boy to answer, he looks down at the ashy-brown tuft of hair and the pretty, prominent nose and the delicate pair of lips closing and opening in hesitation. He's never managed to catch the name of this boy, but he's observed enough to know that this boy was shy and possessed a sort of quiet, excitable charm that drew in the rest of their classmates. 

Hm. This boy is cute. 

"What I want to tell you is," repeats Changkyun out of nowhere. "That I li--" here, he catches himself reverting back to his native tongue, Korean words rushing out of his lips out of the blue.

Hyungwon's ears perk up. What was that familiar language? It sounds like home?

Switching back to Japanese, the shorter boy finishes, "--that I like you." Then he clears his throat again and locks his eyes on the ground. 

The taller boy blinks, taking more than average time to process the words spoken to him. After all, he'd just woken up from a nap, so he doesn't have enough energy to understand what's going on around him. 

_Like_ , his classmate had said. _Like_. So. Okay. So this was a confession, huh. 

A confession? 

"I think you're very cute," continues Changkyun, not knowing where those words are coming from or who's allowing him to speak more than the sacred confession itself, "and that you're very handsome and smart and tall. I. We've never talked before, but I see you a lot. Yeah. So I like you." 

Hyungwon is now very much frozen in his place. Confession? Someone is confessing to him? Someone likes him? What does it mean? What does he see in him? What is he supposed to do? 

What? 

Meanwhile, Changkyun's legs are melting on the inside and his heartbeat is reaching all sorts of extreme pulses. Oh gosh. He's done it. He's finally admitted his love to someone for the first time in his life, expecting it to go as smooth as those flower-covered shoujo scenes he's read for as long as he could remember. He didn't create any expectations, didn't even know what to expect after saying _i like you_  to someone else, but he sure wasn't expecting this awkward silence to follow so soon. Was this a silent rejection? What is he supposed to do? 

Hyungwon himself has no idea, so he scratches his head and thinks up of possible answers. Something not blunt, as he was prone to say, and something not stupid, as he was prone to say too. Something like-- 

"Thank you for your confes--oh gosh, are you crying?" 

An overhwelming panic rises in him as he notices a trail of wetness, of tears, rolling down the shorter boy's cheeks. Hyungwon's eyes widen and he unfreezes from his stance, pushing his hands into the shorter boy's personal space to caress the wet cheek. Oh gosh. The boy really is crying. Hyungwon is at fault. 

Will the student council rat him out for this, too? 

Changkyun shakes his head. "What, no, I'm not--I'm not crying." He sniffles. "Oh. I am." 

"Wait, what? Why? I didn't say anything yet." 

"I don't know. Don't ask me why I'm crying." Pushing away the large, warm hands of his crush so he can wipe his own tears, Changkyun blinks back the unexpected teardrops, then glances around them in hopes that no one else saw that. "Please say something." 

"I was. Um." It was Hyungwon's turn to clear his throat now. Scratching at the collar of his sweater-- why was it so hot now? The winds were still blowing harsh-- he repeats himself, "I was saying thank you. For your, um, confession." 

"Oh." Changkyun's heart shatters a little more. Thank you, huh. Is that the only response he should get? Is that how things go? How a confession normally happens? How is he supposed to feel? 

Oh, but what does he know? All the romance he's ever lived had been in fictional worlds. Never has he felt more let down by anime and manga than right now. 

Hyungwon nods. "Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it." 

Blinking away more tears, real tears that Changkyun can feel this time, the shorter boy purses his lips to come up with an answer, his deep dimples making a guest appearance, and releases a sigh. "Yes. I'm glad you appreciate it." The air between them turns a little stale from the tone of his words, but what is he supposed to do? He's a little disappointed by how things turned out. 

The taller boy winces. Oops. Seems like thank you was not the appropriate response. 

"In turn," Changkyun says, hitching up the strap of his backpack, "thank you for waiting for me today. I'm sorry I took up your time for this." 

"No, no, no, it's fine," Hyungwon replies, waving his hands in front of him. "I don't have anything after school, so." 

"Alright then." An awkward nod, a stiff bow, and Changkyun stares at the ground again. "Thank you for listening to my words. I'll see you tomorrow." Then he turns around and begins to make his way to the school gates.

With that, the air dips down into a low, low mood, and guilt prickles in Hyungwon's heart at being the possible cause of it. Jeez, if only he weren't so useless in these situations, then he could've saved the mood from falling down. He thinks fast, takes a few seconds of Changkyun walking away to formulate a solution. Then, holding up one hand in the air in a desperate, impulsive gesture, he calls out, "Wait!"

Changkyun stops walking. 

"I didn't reject you or anything, if that's what you're thinking," Hyungwon rushes out, approaching the shorter boy in quick footsteps. "I'm sorry if that's what made you cry." 

"Ah, no, I'm okay--" 

"To tell you the truth, I don't know anything about you," continues the taller boy, oblivious to the sharp pang his words had. Then he winces, then explains, "I mean, it's not like I ignore you or anything, but, um...we never had a chance to talk and get to know each other properly." 

"Oh." 

"And you seem to be a nice person to, well, get to know." 

"Thank you?" 

"So what I'm saying is," Hyungwon says, taking a deep breath after rushing out all those sentences, "what I'm saying is that I didn't reject you, but I didn't, um, accept your confession either. It's too early for me to say anything." 

"Ah." 

The lack of enthusiasm in the shorter boy's responses was disheartening. Maybe Hyungwon shouldn't have said anything at all. Maybe he should've let the boy walk back home alone. Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut. At the same time, a part of him says _no, this was the right thing to do, letting the boy walk back home would only result in weeks' worth of awkwardness between them_ and awkwardness, despite being the essence Hyungwon is made of, is not something he can handle. At all. 

Besides, the boy is cute. He's not going to let this chance go. 

So he continues, "What I'm saying is that I'd like to know you better and be friends with you first, before deciding anything at all." 

The slope of Changkyun's shoulders lift up high into the air. He raises his chin, unable to hide the excited glance, the relieved smile, the thumping heartbeat in his chest. "Oh?" 

At this reaction, Hyungwon feels the same relief rush through his body. He eases it with a smile. "Yeah. I think I'd like to start us as friends first." 

Friends. Friends. Not what Changkyun wanted, but who was he to complain after setting up no expectations at all? 

"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name the first time," Hyungwon says. He holds out one hand. "But my name is Hyunwon. I think you know it by now. What's yours?" 

In the shakiest, most nervous voice he can muster, Changkyun tries to remember his Japanese name. Smaller hand curling over the taller boy's larger one, he says, "I'm. I'm Chankyun."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> even though this was a rewrite of a fic, aka technically it's a better version of the first draft, i... didn't beta this version at all. in fact, i rewrote this on a whim (as i was working on the actual sequel of the fic) and decided to post it in one sitting-- bad habit, but welp, what's done is done. it's 2am rn as i post this, too, so please forgive any writing, grammar & formatting mistakes until i come back to correct them!    
>  as usual, hmu on [tumblr](http://cngkyns.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/seohngjin)!


	2. it begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- hello! i've been working on this chapter for months, but life got in the way + i had no idea where i was going w this story, so it sat in my wip pile ever since. now that i'm a little free, i started chipping away at my wips (and someone's comment on the prev. chapter motivated me to write! thank u, Kkungpeaches <3) and i tweaked this fic a little so i can actually write it! alas, here's the 2nd chapter (and the actual sequel). hope you'll enjoy this!   
>  \- disclaimer: my knowledge of japanese school life comes entirely from youtube + some googling, since i've never lived there before, so feel free to point out any discrepancies!   
>  **minor edits **on 9th may 2019**** ****  
>  ** **

 

 

Initially, when Changkyun first stepped foot into Tokyo, his heart had been set on exploring the beautiful city of his dreams and to live a full year of Japanese school exchange the way it's depicted in-- don't laugh at him-- anime. Though school life wasn’t too different back home in Gwangju, something about the refreshing school spirit often depicted in the anime he watches, as well as the arrival of spring with a new academic year, stirred his heart to try for an exchange. After his parents had allowed his older brother to study abroad in Paris, Changkyun jumped at the opportunity to beg, beg and beg his parents for him to study abroad, too: countering their arguments that  _he's too young to be living alone_ and  _it might not be what you've dreamed to be_ for two years. Only when tenth grade had ended and Changkyun passed the required JLPT tests the following year did his parents allow him to go on an exchange.

So ask him why, instead of living the high school life he's dreamed of and _fought_ for for three years, he's now pining over a tall, lanky classmate whose mop of bedhead curls were never tamed.

The morning after the confession, Changkyun arrives at school while eating biscuits, striding up to the shoe lockers to exchange his outdoor pair of shoes for his indoor pair*. As he's approaching the maze of lockers, he sees those  trademark bedhead curls and pretty, lump lips appear by the entrance of the building out of nowhere.

He chokes on his biscuit.

Hyungwon seems to be walking in his direction, so Changkyun ducks behind the shoe lockers nearby and hunches over one of the open lockers, sputtering crumbs all over the floor. It probably wasn't a good idea to have biscuits for breakfast with a throat as dry as his. If a teacher catches sight of him right now, he'd have to clean up the crumbs, but there's no time to think about the consequences of making a mess when Hyungwon is approaching the aisle in all his morning, long-legged glory, bedhead be damned, and their eyes are about to meet--

"Oh." Hyungwon stops in his tracks when he sees Changkyun bent near a locker, one hand thumping on his chest as he coughs out biscuit crumbs onto the floor. "Oh, it's you from yesterday. Are you okay?"

"W-water," the shorter chokes.

Taking a second to process the word, Hyungwon jumps and reaches into his backpack, pulling out his water bottle. "Water? Here."

"Thank you," Changkyun rasps, uncapping the bottle and tipping it into his mouth. Some of the water escapes the bottle,  drips down his uniform and makes him feel like a thirsty animal, causing a flame of embarrassment to rise to his ears. Of course, he makes sure his lips don't touch the bottle. That's not hygienic at all.

Hyungwon, being the socially awkward boy he is, stands by with his arms hanging by his sides as he waits for his bottle to be returned. "You're welcome?"  

The shorter swallows with some difficulty, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, before capping the bottle and handing it back to said classmate. Red burns at the tips of his ears and embarrassment blazes at his neck. What kind of impression did he just make, choking on biscuit crumbs like that?

"You're gonna have to clean that up, you know," Hyungwon interrupts his thoughts, pointing at the crumbs.

"Ah." Changkyun knows.

"Need help?"

He shakes his head. "It's fine. I have time to spare before class."

"I'll help," Hyungwon decides. He turns around to the direction of the janitor's closet a meter away, opening it to take out a broom, which he uses to casually sweep the crumbs off the floor onto the outside porch.

Watching with a light, fluttering heart, Changkyun bows a little and mumbles, "Thank you, Hyunwon-san."

"No biggie," says his crush, returning the broom back into the closet. "It's not a good idea to leave crumbs anywhere. If the student council doesn't rat you out, then the disciplinary teacher will sniff down your tracks. They're scary like that."

"Are they?"

"Yeah." Hyungwon glances outside the entrance door, as if expecting a student council member to pop up soon. "They're always on my case one way or another."

"Why?" In his heart, Changkyun has a sudden hunch that his crush was a Bad Boy and his knees turn to jelly once again. Images of Hyungwon striding down the hallway and glaring at everyone with those pretty, pretty eyes, or Hyungwon doing the _kabedon_ \-- trapping someone between him and a wall-- caused him to freeze for a second. After all, what kind of student must Hyungwon be for the student council to rat him out any time of the day?

Instead, his crush shakes his head. "I don't know. Probably because I sleep a lot."  

Then there's silence, the ticking of the wall clock above them and the distant laughter of their schoolmates from the classrooms further down the corridor.

The taller glances at his watch. "Oh, I think I have to go now," he says, eyebrows raising upwards. "My teacher's coming soon, and for once I’m proving to her that I can come early to class."

"O-okay." Changkyun nods. "I'll go too."

"I still haven't gotten to know you yet," says Hyungwon, already facing the corridor where he came from. "We should talk more again."

At this, warning bells go off in Changkyun's head, alarms of _what's going on what is this why does he want to get to know me_ ringing in his ears. Unable to cover the blush that flushes his cheeks, his entire face red, Changkyun hangs his head and purses his lips together. "Oh. Okay. Sure."

As cool as the male love interest in every shoujo anime, Hyungwon turns around and walks away, his back view impossibly handsome and charismatic. Changkyun can only stay, feet cemented in place, as he watches his crush walk with the grace of a swan, long legs striding in smooth, confident steps.

Then Hyungwon pauses. Whirls around on his toes. Panic lights up in his eyes as he suddenly runs back to the shoe lockers, past Changkyun's frozen body, muttering "Shoot, I forgot my textbooks" the entire time. Searching for his locker, he pulls out a stack of books from inside, along with some crumpled yen and candy wrappers and a folded sock from God-knows-where, and runs back down the corridor.

"See you around, Chankyun-san!" Hyungwon calls out over his shoulder.

Changkyun watches in a daze.

 

 

Three months of school meant that summer vacation was around the corner. With every day that passes, everyone buzzes in excitement at the upcoming holidays approaching them, plans of going to the beach and travelling overseas and hangouts with friends already exchanged between one another. The days grow hotter and hotter, their uniforms thinning to suit the sweltering weather, popsicles appear in everyone’s hands and the local swimming pools gain popularity as people fight for a dip in the cooling water.

One day, after the last bell rings, Changkyun packs his notebooks into his bag while eavesdropping on his classmates' conversations. Some of his friends have scheduled a trip to the beach together, staying over at one of their friend's family resort for a week. One of his classmates was flying to New Zealand to enjoy winter there. Another group were going to a trip in Hokkaido, dreaming of onsen and beautiful scenery and food unique to the region. Changkyun himself doesn't have any plans during vacation, unless his foster family had scheduled something he didn't know of, and he didn't have too many friends to hang with, so hearing all that left a lonely hole in his heart.

Once their final bell rings on the last day of school, summer vacation officially begins. Most of his schoolmates rush out from the front gates at full speed, ready to take off their vacation plans, while Changkyun strides at his casual pace with earphones plugged in, careful to avoid bumping others. He stumbles over his feet once or twice, muttering apologies to the person beside him, and almost loses his path to the gates in the energetic current of the crowd. A light loneliness tugs at his heart, unable to relate to their exhilaration.

Back home in Gwangju, Korea, he would be just like them.

Looking up from his feet, he spots a tall, familiar bedhead walking some feet away from him. Unlike most of the student body, Hyungwon walks alone on the path, bombarded by one too many excited classmates and tripping over his feet several times. For once, he doesn't have a friend hanging off his arm or an admirer talking his ears off, so Changkyun works up the courage to approach him and strike up a conversation.

Meanwhile, Hyungwon is dazed out of his mind. Today was so, so hot, he's lightheaded, and he wants nothing more than to drown himself in a bucket of cold water and maybe drink lemonade after that. His uniform sticks to his back-- he's pretty sure there's a large sweat patch in the middle of it-- and beads of sweat roll down his forehead and neck. Ugh. He needs to wash down and get out of this blasted heat as soon as possible.

_Hi._

Hyungwon blinks. Huh. Did he hear a distant voice floating towards him?

_Hyunwon-san._

Ah, there it goes again. He shakes his head. Where was the voice coming from? Is this auditory hallucination? He hasn't drunk water since morning, after all, and the heat could be doing things to his head.

_Hyunwon-san?_

Someone tugs at his shirt. He flinches in surprise. Without him noticing, Changkyun had appeared right under his nose and was looking up at him, awaiting a response.

"Ah." Regaining his composure, Hyungwon clears his throat and purses an awkward smile as a greeting. "Hello, Chankyun-san."

"Hi." Despite approaching first, Changkyun tucks his chin inside his shirt collar, shy and unsure of what to say. "Um." They exit the school gates along with a group of seniors, who laugh way too hard in their ears and bump them too many times. Thinking of what to say, Changkyun asks, "Um, do you have any holiday plans?"

Hyungwon notes the odd grammar in the boy's sentence, hides a smile at his cuteness. "No."

"Oh."

"What about you?" The current of students drag them to the nearby bus stop with no resistance-- but it's no problem, they're both going the same direction anyway. Hyungwon tucks his hands into his pockets, fiddling with his house keys inside, while Changkyun stares down the direction of the bus' arrival.

A hum. "I don't think so. My foster family didn't mention anything about plans, so--" a shrug.

"I'm not going on any vacation," says Hyungwon, "because I'll be working part time at a convenience store near my house. Unless my family invites me somewhere, of course."

"That's cool." Beside him, Changkyun's eyes widened at the pavement, in awe at Hyungwon but too shy to look at him in the eyes. "I've never had a job before."

"Oh. That's alright.”

"I think I'll be studying at home," muses Changkyun, hands fiddling with the straps of his backpack while he shifts weight from one leg to the other. "I don't have anything else to do."

"You're pretty new here, right? Have you explored the city yet?" As Hyungwon asks this, a bus going their route appears from the far corner of the road, enticing a relieved sigh in unison from the students. The bus approaches the stop at a fast yet steady speed, promising them an escape from standing in the sweltering summer heat.

"Not yet," Changkyun answers, his voice almost muted by the sound of the hydraulic brakes in the distance. "I wanted to, but I'm not sure where to start."

Before Hyungwon is sure of what he's saying, he replies, "Oh. Well I can show you around."

Changkyun doesn't say anything yet, not when the bus stops in front of them and a trail of passengers step off the vehicle, squeezing through the impatient students crowding by the entrance. Their conversation is put on hold as the two boys squeeze into the crowd, rush down the aisles to book a seat for themselves before they're forced to stand up the entire ride home. Hyungwon settles in a window seat, glad he's able to breathe properly once more, while his classmate slides into the seat beside his, taking his backpack off his shoulders and placing it on his lap. Their conversation is still on hold by the time all the passengers are seated, the doors are closed, and the bus starts moving.

When Hyungwon turns to look at Changkyun again, the shorter boy is grinning a thousand-watt grin, possibly brighter than the sun itself.

"You'd like to show me around? Around the city?" he asks, his usual deep tone jumping an octave higher. Excitement shines in his eyes, in the open _o_ of his mouth and the surprised raise of his eyebrows. "That'd be-- that'd be cool!" he squeaks, his Japanese faltering for a moment. "If you're-- if you're okay with it, I mean.'

 _Ah. What do I do?_ Turning towards the window to hide his face from the boy, Hyungwon grimaces at himself in regret. It's not like he doesn't want to spend time with his classmate-- after all, _he_ was the one who promised to befriend him, to get to know him better-- but considering his four-day work schedule during the summer and his reluctance to move anywhere on vacation, Hyungwon isn't exactly up for a city tour with his classmate.

And yet, and yet, the hope in Changkyun's eyes were far too bright for him to say no. There was a childlike enthusiasm to the tilt of his eyebrows and the gape of his mouth, something that yells _you're a horrible person!_ at Hyungwon if he were to correct himself and say no.

So he purses his lips and looks at his classmate again, plastering a hesitant half-smile on his face. "I mean, sure. Why not?"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- ***** = from what i know, having 2 pairs of shoes-- one for outdoors, the other for indoors-- is a thing they do in japanese schools to keep it clean   
>  \- i thought i was going to keep this fic 2 chapters long, but i decided against it so i can keep a steady pacing throughout the fic! if you don't know by now, i'm horrible at writing chaptered fics (esp. if i don't have the full story in my head yet) so do be patient while waiting for the next ones to come out uwu   
>  \- as usual, hmu on [twt](http://twitter.com/seohngjin) or [tumblr](http://cngkyns.tumblr.com)!


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